Federal funding provides boost to Mi'kmaw language revitalization

The federal government is giving $7.1 million to a Mi'kmaw education organization in Nova Scotia to help revitalize the province's Indigenous language, and Mi'kmaw speakers say the money is badly needed.

Blaire Gould, executive director of Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey, said she can go almost anywhere in Eskasoni First Nation and not have to speak English, but that's not the case in smaller communities.

"We have one speaker left in Annapolis Valley First Nation who is very elderly and we're not replacing those speakers for those communities who are in most dire need," she said Wednesday at her office in Membertou First Nation.

"Younger populations [are] not speaking as well as they used to 20 years ago and then communities who are quite small [are] losing language speakers at a steady rate, which is very, very scary."

Eskasoni is the largest Mi'kmaw community in Atlantic Canada and is home to the province's only Mi'kmaw language immersion school.

In 2022, Mi'kmaw was enshrined in legislation as Nova Scotia's first language.

A recent study by Statistics Canada found the number of Mi'kmaw speakers increased by nearly six per cent between 2016 and 2021, which Gould said might not represent an actual increase.

It might simply reflect growing pride among those who are able to speak their ancestral language, she said.

Sydney-Victoria Liberal MP Jaime Battiste, who lives in Eskasoni, said while the immersion school is helping create new generations of Mi'kmaw speakers, it's difficult to inspire a lifelong love of using the language.

"I don't hear it as much as I heard it when I was young," he said.

"I grew up a fluent language speaker in my neighbourhood and everyone spoke the language. I'm seeing more and more now that people are not fluent."

Battiste said even his son, who graduated from the immersion school, spoke English when hanging out with his friends.

"I'd say, 'What are you doing? All of you guys are Mi'kmaw language speakers,' but he always said 'Well, I don't do math for fun either,' so he saw Mi'kmaw as a subject in school rather than part of his culture.

"I think that's what we're trying to fight now is to show people that it's part of everyday life and not just a subject in school."

Battiste said revitalizing the mother tongue is critical and it has to start with the youth.

More needs to be done

"Language is a big part of who we are," he said. "It gives us the ability to see the worldview from our ancestors."

Gould said there have been language efforts and successes in Mi'kmaw communities across the province, but more needs to be done.

She said the funding from Heritage Canada will help ensure programs are available for the next five years and much of it will be aimed at encouraging young people to speak Mi'kmaw.